On the International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer today, Celeste delivered the inaugural address for the United States-Environmental Resource Center (US-ERC).

``E-commerce does not respect any national boundaries, and the same applies to our ecosystem. Hence the business communities of India and US can join hands and clean up the environment by producing and marketing eco-friendly products,'' said the US ambassador. He added that plenty of opportunities exist in the environment management sector and the business houses of both the countries could grasp the opportunities. ``We have to respond aggressively to the situation emerging from the continuous degradation of environment,'' he felt.

The US-ERC is an industrial environmental extension organisation with an active and agressive outreachprogramme for assisting industries and the society at large to handle environmental issues. The centre is established in response to the growing need for improved industrial environmental performance, energy efficiency and urban environmental management.

Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IIAC), with the active support of the United States-Asia environmental Partnership (US-AEP) and the United States agency for International Development (USAID), have agreed to perform technical and management services for the US-ERC.

The US-ERC will create awareness among Indian industry for adopting best practices and cleaner technologies from India and US.

In another eco-seminar organised in the city today by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), the chief guest on the occasion, S P Godrej, said that the ministry of environment should be given top priority. ``While the population of India has grown threefold, the forest cover has reduced three times. This can only be stopped if environment, health, andeducation are given top priority by the government,'' said Godrej.

The State Environment Secretary, Pramod Deo, was also present at the seminar.

In his address, the senior manager of Blue Star Limited, A G Saligram, said that most of the depleted ozone in the envioronment can be recovered by the year 2050 if all the countries adhere to the Monteral Protocol signed in 1987.

The main objective of the Montreal Protocol is to protect the thin layer of ozone in the stratosphere, located between 10 to 50 kilometres above Earth, that absorbs a small fraction of harmful ultraviolet radiation of the sun.